Figurative Language Quiz

Match the following terms with their definitions:

• The use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive.

• Circumlocution

• The repetition of consonant sounds right next to each other, creating a memorable or melodic effect.

• Antithesis

• A figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses someone or something that isn't present in the poem.

• Apostrophe

• A rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.

• Alliteration

(a)   places opposite things or ideas next to one another in order to draw out their contrast.

• Alliteration
• Antithesis
• Apostrophe
• Circumlocution

What is it called when a character addresses someone or something that isn’t present or cannot respond?

• Alliteration

• Antithesis

• Apostrophe

• Circumlocution

What is the use of a purposely wordy description, often referred to as talking in circles?

• Alliteration

• Antithesis

• Apostrophe

• Circumlocution

What is an epigram?

• A clever and memorable statement

• A deliberate exaggeration

• A way to avoid difficult topics

• A type of circumlocution

Which of the following is an example of a euphemism?

• "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

• "If I don’t eat soon, I’m going to die of hunger."

• "He kicked the bucket."

• "He Who Must Not Be Named."

Match the following descriptions with their corresponding terms:

• Hyperbole

• A way to avoid difficult topics

• Periphrasis

• A clever and memorable statement

• Aphorism

• A type of circumlocution

• Evasion

• A deliberate exaggeration that adds emphasis, urgency, or excitement to a statement

(a)   is a situation that subverts a reader’s expectations.

• A situation that subverts a reader’
• The use of a double negative to cre
• The direct comparison of dissimilar
• A word or object standing in for a

Which of the following is an example of irony?

• You’re not wrong.

• He was an onion; to understand him, she had to peel back the layers.

• One of the characters in your story is a hypochondriac, always convinced that they have an exotic and uncurable disease. An ironic ending for that character would be if they died of a common cold.

• I thought his movies were better when they weren’t so Hollywood.

What is litotes?

• A situation that subverts a reader’s expectations.

• The use of a double negative to create a positive.

• The direct comparison of dissimilar things.

• A word or object standing in for a closely related word or object.